Get timely intervention

Cardiac arrest is a sudden cessation of cardiac pump activity thus bring the blood circulation to a halt in the body and hence oxygenation of all body organs including the brain, which if not restarted in 5 to 10 minutes leads to irreparable damage to the body especially the brain causing brain death and eventually death of the person.

Why does cardiac arrest happen?
There are numerous reasons but I will discuss the most common cause of cardiac arrest here - HEART ATTACK.

Myocardial infarction also commonly known as heart attack is due to sudden cessation of blood supply to the heart muscle, which leads to heart muscle damage and slowing of pumping of the heart or even stoppage of the pumping of the heart.

The heart muscle is supplied by the left and right coronary artery. Since our heart is always working 24 hours a day it requires continuous supply of blood to the heart muscle, so it has a never ending supply of oxygen and fatty acids to generate energy to continue its pump function.

Presence of a cholesterol build up and sudden formation of a blood clot in the lumen of one of the coronary artery can cause obstruction to the flow of blood to the heart muscle and heart pump failure (akin to the petrol tube blockage of a vehicle, where in the engine splutters and comes to a grinding halt), if the flow is not restored to the coronaries immediately , by either clot dissolving medicine or more efficiently by the infamous challa (stent) and balloon which is in news lately the heart is doomed to stop.

Causes:
Age, smoking, high cholesterol (LDL) levels, diabetes, hypertension and genetic have proved beyond doubt to promote heart attack. There are many more important factors in our day to day life which everyone have in our daily lifestyles.

It’s not always what is seen is right, looks can be deceptive, life does not come easy and we all know this.

Stress: First, the stress to get where you want and then the stress to maintain the position, or stress by the family with whom you live… if you are successful in career there is someone in the house who wants you to come back home early. Many a successful career oriented people are so guilty cause they are not doing justice to their personal life..

So to be less of stress we need to learn to let go…

Glamour: The stress to look good and young forever also is such an unhealthy recipe for disaster. The long working hours, the keto diets, the cosmetic procedures the body has to undergo, the muscle building drugs and the quick weight loosing regimes, invite a great deal of risk for cardiac diseases.

I have seen my patients having cardiac arrest during festival times, marriage seasons or other stress related times.

Either there are back to back parties of high fat food, with lack of sleep bundled along with travels during nights to save time.

By: Dr Asif Raheeem
The writer is an interventional cardiologist.